Well AJM simply adored Gary's behavior during "Fire in The Hole" on the 3 tour.

"I love almost everybody."---Rocky Balboa 1990
"Let's reform this thing.Let's go out and get some guys who want to work and go do it"--Neal Schon February, 2001
"I looked at Neal, and I just saw a guy who really wants his band back"-JCain 2/01

Sammy and the boys were on Leno last week. Jay gave them the last 5 minutes of the show and didn't even talk to them. He's got 3 rock legends on his show (Sam, Mike, Joe) and doesn't give them any time. Jay blows!

Anyway, they sounded great as always. They played 'Different Devil'. I hope they release 'Up Next' as the 3rd single. That song kicks serious ass. And the Mikey/Sammy harmonies on that one are fantastic.

Also, Van Halen just turned down the Howard Stern show. The album and tour are doing well so they probably didn't think they needed the extra publicity. But it would have been cool to hear them interviewed and playing live in his studio.

How can you say such a thing when everyone knows Montrose was a direct influence on early VH?

Now your pulling the rabbit out of the hat. Never heard, nor read that in my life. You gotta do better than that V.

*ahem*

With the passing of Ronnie Montrose mere days ago, I was waiting for Sammy to chime in on his time with Ronnie, and meeting Eddie for the first time. This article was published today. Again, I have NO idea how you were unaware of the Montrose-VH influence and connection.

The first time Eddie Van Halen and I met, it was around 1977. We were on a stadium show with Boston, Black Sabbath, myself, Van Halen. He came to my dressing room, and said, "I'm a Montrose freak, I love the band!" And Ted Templeman told me, when he signed Van Halen, they were called something else, and he wanted to name them after the guitar player. He said on the first Van Halen record, he took the first Montrose record in there and said, "Boom. We're going to have eight great songs, they're going to be this long, they're going to be this tempo." And pretty much patterned the whole thing after it – right down to saying, "Why don't you guys get Sammy Hagar to sing in this band? He's been thrown out of Montrose." That's a true story!

Eddie had a totally new twist on the whole guitar style thing, but as far as the chording goes – not his soloing as much as the chording – yeah, he took some of that big open chord thing [from Montrose]. The big open A, the big open D, the big open E. Everything as open as you could make it, to make it as heavy as possible with one guitar. And that was pretty much Ronnie's style, too. And of course the fire, too – Van Halen came out with all that fire, which is Ronnie. Ronnie was full of fire, man.

cittadeeno23 wrote:Also, Van Halen just turned down the Howard Stern show. The album and tour are doing well so they probably didn't think they needed the extra publicity. But it would have been cool to hear them interviewed and playing live in his studio.

I would bet that the Van Halens are doing all they can to avoid self distruction. Stern would only be a distraction, even though it could be thoroughly entertaining.

And even MORE Sammy talk. Seriously, my patience is being tried by all his yapping. I used to be a HUGE Sammy fan, but with the release of "Live It Up" and and seeing the same old show I've resigned him to the proverbial dust bin. Chickenfoot is OK, but nothing I can listen to over and over.

Sammy can say he is the better singer all he wants and that Dave can't sing his songs - he's right. However Sammy barely sang any of Dave's songs when he was in the band himself. I don't think they ever even played "Running With The Devil" or "Hot For Teacher" the entire time Sam was with them.

Despite what the American Idol generation thinks, it is not always about who is the best crooner. Van Halen is more fun with Roth and Eddie plays better when they are together.

Sammy would serve himself best by not commenting or just wishing them well.

AR is just a longtime net troll who is bored with trolling just Journey most of the time so he's looking for other places to troll and get reactions.

"StillStanding" from the karaoke Boston forum and night manager at Home Depot

Squidward24 wrote:And even MORE Sammy talk. Seriously, my patience is being tried by all his yapping. I used to be a HUGE Sammy fan, but with the release of "Live It Up" and and seeing the same old show I've resigned him to the proverbial dust bin. Chickenfoot is OK, but nothing I can listen to over and over.

No shit. Does this motherfucker ever shut up. He's so Goddamn jealous of the success Van Halen is having it's eating his fucking mop top brain away! Instead
of trashing Eddie in his book, he should have been on his knees giving thanks for making his career go on and not having to sing "Three lock box", "I can't drive55" forever. . When he hooked up with Halen, they were undeniably, the biggest band in the world, bar fucking none! He single handily turned them into a synth pop band with horse shit like "Dreams", "When it's love", "Right here, right now". I have never seen so many dudes pounding their chest like a gorilla over some of the most pussified rock to ever hit the airwaves. I mean lol, Foreigner had more BALLS than Van Hagar! Van Halen with Roth were NOT a pop band that wrote pop songs. They were an absolute POWERHOUSE that mowed over motherfuckers and laughed while they did it. Then they declawed the beast to turn into a cuddly hit machine. Starship had hits, Zeppelin did not. Different animal altogether, Lion vs Lamb. I guess when you took your girlfriend to the Van hagar show,and mouthed "How do I know when it's love", "I can't tell you but it'll last forever" barf bag shit galore songs and win brownie points and may get a tit feel or maybe some head, who knows huh? Then later in the week you can take her to see Phil Collins and Top Gun, WOW! Spammy just needs to STFU and keep on play the club circuits around the world. And "V" thanks for clarifying thru the article you dug up thru the archives of the digital empire. I bet you looked for years until you found it. Fuck you man

For me Ronnie's passing is the end of an era. Ronnie Montrose gave me my first break as a songwriter, as a front man, as a recording artist and as a touring artist, and for that I will always be grateful. The first Montrose album was the first album I ever recorded and it still stands as one of the best recordings I have ever been a part of. I wrote songs with him, but it was his trip. He's the guy that got me to sing with him. I had no experience whatsoever; I just wrote the first four songs in my life, which were "Bad Motor Scooter," "Make It Last," "One Thing on My Mind," and "I Don't Want It," played them for Ronnie upon first meeting, shook my hand, and said, "Let's start a band." I went from zero to a hundred.

I saw him at Winterland with the Edgar Winter Group, [touring in support of] They Only Come Out at Night, with "Free Ride" and "Frankenstein." I didn't know who he was; I didn't know anything about him. I had a soul band – we were playing Tower of Power and James Brown – and we sat there and watched Edgar Winter. I told my guitar player, "I want you to be like that" – like Ronnie Montrose. And he's going, "I don't want to play that kind of music," and I'm going, "Well, I do." We got into it. It broke my band up, seeing Ronnie for the first time. I said, "I'm going to be like that guy. I'm going to play guitar like that and I'm going to sing like…the way I sing."

I was talking to a guy a couple of days after the show, and he said, "That's Ronnie Montrose, and that was his last show. He lives in Sausalito." I lived in San Francisco, and I said, "Do you have his address?" because I didn't even have a phone. He gave it to me, and I went and knocked on his door, dressed like David Bowie – big old high heel platform shoes, satin pants, probably had make-up on, with a Les Paul and a notebook pad with all kinds of lyrics in it. I said, "I'm Sammy Hagar. I heard you're looking for a singer." He said, "Come on in. You got any songs?" I played him my four songs, we shook hands, and he said, "Let's start a band. Do you know any drummers? I've got a bass player, Bill Church." I had a drummer, Denny Carmassi – wasn't in my band, but he was my favorite drummer around town.

Within a month we were signed to Warner Bros. Records, Ted Templeman producing, and the first Montrose album was born a month after that. It was the fastest thing I've ever done in my life. Like I said, I went from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye – all because of Ronnie.

He was a changeling. Ronnie never liked to stick with anything. We made one of the greatest hard rock/heavy metal albums of all time with that first Montrose album, and then he didn't want to do that anymore. "Nah, nah, we've got to have better songs, we've got to change our image, that kind of music is out." Boy, he was just laying it on us. Ronnie really liked to change – immediately. We butted heads and I got thrown out of the band [after one more album, 1974's Paper Money], but I carried on with that "first Ronnie Montrose" I saw. What I learned from Ronnie Montrose, I still utilize today when I step on a stage. I try to keep the energy up and the entertainment high.

The first time Eddie Van Halen and I met, it was around 1977. We were on a stadium show with Boston, Black Sabbath, myself, Van Halen. He came to my dressing room, and said, "I'm a Montrose freak, I love the band!" And Ted Templeman told me, when he signed Van Halen, they were called something else, and he wanted to name them after the guitar player. He said on the first Van Halen record, he took the first Montrose record in there and said, "Boom. We're going to have eight great songs, they're going to be this long, they're going to be this tempo." And pretty much patterned the whole thing after it – right down to saying, "Why don't you guys get Sammy Hagar to sing in this band? He's been thrown out of Montrose." That's a true story!

Eddie had a totally new twist on the whole guitar style thing, but as far as the chording goes – not his soloing as much as the chording – yeah, he took some of that big open chord thing [from Montrose]. The big open A, the big open D, the big open E. Everything as open as you could make it, to make it as heavy as possible with one guitar. And that was pretty much Ronnie's style, too. And of course the fire, too – Van Halen came out with all that fire, which is Ronnie. Ronnie was full of fire, man.

[I last spoke to Montrose] a couple of weeks ago, and about a week before that, and then four or five days before that. We were talking a lot, because we were planning a Montrose reunion for my birthday in Cabo this year. Montrose, the whole band, has not been there. Denny's been there, Bill's been there, Ronnie's been there – but [the whole band together] has never been there. I said to Ronnie, "Come on, man. We're all getting old. Let's do this again while we can." And he was in, we were all in. On my 65th, on October 13th, I was planning on coming out with Montrose, doing the whole first album, then going in with my other band, and then bringing Chickenfoot out. I was going to try to [cover] my whole four decades for the fans that night, without nobody knowing. And Ronnie was in. It's crazy. I even played back on my message box, February 10th – "Hagar, Ronzo…call me back!" It was all good. It's fucked up that those songs will never be played by those four members again. Songs can go forever, but we can't.

[I would like Montrose to be remembered] as one of the pioneers of American heavy/hard rock. And certainly, one of the great hard rock guitar players. But he was more than that – he was really versatile. But if you're going to remember him for anything, put on that first Montrose record.

The only positive I can grab onto is the fact that the music will live on. It's a shame to lose Ronnie and I'm so sorry for his loved ones. Rest in peace.

Squidward24 wrote:And even MORE Sammy talk. Seriously, my patience is being tried by all his yapping. I used to be a HUGE Sammy fan, but with the release of "Live It Up" and and seeing the same old show I've resigned him to the proverbial dust bin. Chickenfoot is OK, but nothing I can listen to over and over.

No shit. Does this motherfucker ever shut up. He's so Goddamn jealous of the success Van Halen is having it's eating his fucking mop top brain away! Insteadof trashing Eddie in his book, he should have been on his knees giving thanks for making his career go on and not having to sing "Three lock box", "I can't drive55" forever. . When he hooked up with Halen, they were undeniably, the biggest band in the world, bar fucking none! He single handily turned them into a synth pop band with horse shit like "Dreams", "When it's love", "Right here, right now". I have never seen so many dudes pounding their chest like a gorilla over some of the most pussified rock to ever hit the airwaves. I mean lol, Foreigner had more BALLS than Van Hagar! Van Halen with Roth were NOT a pop band that wrote pop songs. They were an absolute POWERHOUSE that mowed over motherfuckers and laughed while they did it. Then they declawed the beast to turn into a cuddly hit machine. Starship had hits, Zeppelin did not. Different animal altogether, Lion vs Lamb. I guess when you took your girlfriend to the Van hagar show,and mouthed "How do I know when it's love", "I can't tell you but it'll last forever" barf bag shit galore songs and win brownie points and may get a tit feel or maybe some head, who knows huh? Then later in the week you can take her to see Phil Collins and Top Gun, WOW! Spammy just needs to STFU and keep on play the club circuits around the world. And "V" thanks for clarifying thru the article you dug up thru the archives of the digital empire. I bet you looked for years until you found it. Fuck you man

You do realize that Eddie started the synth stuff when Roth was in the band for some album named "1984" right? You also do realize that possible the heaviest VH riffs are "Humans Being" and "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" both of which were sung by Hagar right?

Don't get me wrong I enjoy every era of Van Halen, but you if you're going to be blaming someone for the band getting "declawed" you might want to look at the guy who carries around the lead guitar.

jestor92 wrote:You do realize that Eddie started the synth stuff when Roth was in the band for some album named "1984" right? You also do realize that possible the heaviest VH riffs are "Humans Being" and "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" both of which were sung by Hagar right?

Don't get me wrong I enjoy every era of Van Halen, but you if you're going to be blaming someone for the band getting "declawed" you might want to look at the guy who carries around the lead guitar.

And that synth stuff on 1984 is great, too. I love "Jump" and "I'll Wait." I love the whole flippin' album from start to finish. (It more than made up for that misstep called Diver Down — contender for the worst album in the entire catalogue.)

And "Humans Being" is a killer tune. So's "Me Wise Magic." So at least two knockout songs came out of issuing that compilation.

Squidward24 wrote:And even MORE Sammy talk. Seriously, my patience is being tried by all his yapping. I used to be a HUGE Sammy fan, but with the release of "Live It Up" and and seeing the same old show I've resigned him to the proverbial dust bin. Chickenfoot is OK, but nothing I can listen to over and over.

No shit. Does this motherfucker ever shut up. He's so Goddamn jealous of the success Van Halen is having it's eating his fucking mop top brain away! Insteadof trashing Eddie in his book, he should have been on his knees giving thanks for making his career go on and not having to sing "Three lock box", "I can't drive55" forever. . When he hooked up with Halen, they were undeniably, the biggest band in the world, bar fucking none! He single handily turned them into a synth pop band with horse shit like "Dreams", "When it's love", "Right here, right now". I have never seen so many dudes pounding their chest like a gorilla over some of the most pussified rock to ever hit the airwaves. I mean lol, Foreigner had more BALLS than Van Hagar! Van Halen with Roth were NOT a pop band that wrote pop songs. They were an absolute POWERHOUSE that mowed over motherfuckers and laughed while they did it. Then they declawed the beast to turn into a cuddly hit machine. Starship had hits, Zeppelin did not. Different animal altogether, Lion vs Lamb. I guess when you took your girlfriend to the Van hagar show,and mouthed "How do I know when it's love", "I can't tell you but it'll last forever" barf bag shit galore songs and win brownie points and may get a tit feel or maybe some head, who knows huh? Then later in the week you can take her to see Phil Collins and Top Gun, WOW! Spammy just needs to STFU and keep on play the club circuits around the world. And "V" thanks for clarifying thru the article you dug up thru the archives of the digital empire. I bet you looked for years until you found it. Fuck you man

You do realize that Eddie started the synth stuff when Roth was in the band for some album named "1984" right? You also do realize that possible the heaviest VH riffs are "Humans Being" and "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" both of which were sung by Hagar right?

Don't get me wrong I enjoy every era of Van Halen, but you if you're going to be blaming someone for the band getting "declawed" you might want to look at the guy who carries around the lead guitar.

True. But Roth had input on the melodies and if you believe everything you read, tried steering EVH away from synth pop, the proof being not only in the music but both Roth, EVH, and the producer said as much. EVH stating it as more of a complaint. I'm all for keyboards, but 80's synth, very dated sounding. And 2 synth pop rock songs on 1984, Jump, wasn't bad, but I'll wait is the worst song on the cd. Maybe they were heading into that direction from there, sure seems like it. If so, it was probably good they parted ways, keeping that band from ever going sour. None of their stuff with Roth was ever heavy. The closet thing probably would be Loss of control, I'm the one, Light up the sky. Most were catchy big rock sounding, great melodies and riffs. V, no need calling me a dumbass, I did read the article. Does that mean it's true? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't matter. I love VH, with Dave. Much more magic with EVH and a much better frontman than spammy. Sure spammy had some song's on is own. But so did Billy Squier, 38 special, Huey Lewis, Eddie Money and the likes. Wether you think spammy's pre van hagar stuff was stellar or not, that 80's soundtrack began and died on spot. I don't think he'd would have been the exception without EVH. Calling someone a dumbass, really? Truth hurts sometimes I know. Just suck it up, take it on the chin and be a man or whatever you are.

No Surprize wrote:V, no need calling me a dumbass, I did read the article. Does that mean it's true? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't matter. I love VH, with Dave. Much more magic with EVH and a much better frontman than spammy. Sure spammy had some song's on is own. But so did Billy Squier, 38 special, Huey Lewis, Eddie Money and the likes. Wether you think spammy's pre van hagar stuff was stellar or not, that 80's soundtrack began and died on spot. I don't think he'd would have been the exception without EVH. Calling someone a dumbass, really? Truth hurts sometimes I know. Just suck it up, take it on the chin and be a man or whatever you are.

You'd do well to take your own advice. A brand-new article, as expected, emerged on Sammy's time in Montrose, yet you accuse me of digging "thru the archives of the digital empire" and then chime off with "fuck you man." You obviously failed to notice the date on the article, which is barely in its third day of existence. So you just suck up that truth, bub...load by load.

And lobbing Sammy in with Eddie Money and Billy Squier is hilarious. Hagar's career has by far eclipsed theirs, and the first two Montrose albums, but especially the first, are American rock staples. I guess you still missed the part about the influence Montrose had on EVH? Sam gives full credit to Ronnie for taking him from nothingland to pro rocker. He does not give that kind of credit lightly. Sam's solo career was at full speed by the time he joined VH, having recorded no fewer than eight albums under his own name. He wasn't riding on fumes or anything.

No Surprize wrote:V, no need calling me a dumbass, I did read the article. Does that mean it's true? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't matter. I love VH, with Dave. Much more magic with EVH and a much better frontman than spammy. Sure spammy had some song's on is own. But so did Billy Squier, 38 special, Huey Lewis, Eddie Money and the likes. Wether you think spammy's pre van hagar stuff was stellar or not, that 80's soundtrack began and died on spot. I don't think he'd would have been the exception without EVH. Calling someone a dumbass, really? Truth hurts sometimes I know. Just suck it up, take it on the chin and be a man or whatever you are.

You'd do well to take your own advice. A brand-new article, as expected, emerged on Sammy's time in Montrose, yet you accuse me of digging "thru the archives of the digital empire" and then chime off with "fuck you man." You obviously failed to notice the date on the article, which is barely in its third day of existence. So you just suck up that truth, bub...load by load.

And lobbing Sammy in with Eddie Money and Billy Squier is hilarious. Hagar's career has by far eclipsed theirs, and the first two Montrose albums, but especially the first, are American rock staples. I guess you still missed the part about the influence Montrose had on EVH? Sam gives full credit to Ronnie for taking him from nothingland to pro rocker. He does not give that kind of credit lightly. Sam's solo career was at full speed by the time he joined VH, having recorded no fewer than eight albums under his own name. He wasn't riding on fumes or anything.

Montrose, rock staples? Sorry, not in my collection. Sam, pro rocker? LOL. If you think fluff like "Three lock box" and "Dreams" are rockers well so is REO. And yes, no doubt, without EVH is career would have been just like Money's, who also had several cd's out, Squiers, and Huey Lewis. Halen put is ass in the spotlight. His 80's style would have went out the door with the others. I am proud to say I have never owned a Fagar cd other than when 5150 came out. That cd hit the can after one listen. I didn't miss the part about Spammy saying this, spammy saying that. Spammy likes to run his mouth. He has pouted, talked trash about Halen, about Dave, then tries to do a 360. I've NEVER read nor heard Halen saying Montrose was a direct influence on him. I have read where he said Tommy Iommi and Ray Davies were but never Montrose. That's Fagar again, putting words into someone else's mouth. Now though, all is right with the world. Dave is back as the frontman, backed by the Halens and I hope I never have to hear about the fill in again. And by the way, my bad about the fuck you man. It wasn't said to offend you.

It's pretty well known that EVH was a fan of Montrose... they covered Montrose stuff in their early days, and eventually toured as a support opener for Montrose... search "Montrose" on any VH board amd you'll find mention of it..

Eddie Van Halen himself considered Ronnie Montrose to be an influence and "Make It Last" was covered by Van Halen in their early club concerts and is available on Van Halen bootlegs, and "Rock Candy" was rehearsed during the sessions for Van Halen's debut album.

Ronnie Montrose, an influential guitarist whose band, Montrose, was a mainstay of hard rock in the 1970s and the launching pad for the singer Sammy Hagar, died on Saturday at his home in Brisbane, Calif. He was 64.

The cause was complications of prostate cancer, said his agent, Jim Douglas.

In the early 1970s Mr. Montrose was a journeyman studio guitarist in California, playing on Van Morrison’s albums “Tupelo Honey” and “Saint Dominic’s Preview,” as well as with Herbie Hancock, Boz Scaggs and others. He was also on the Edgar Winter Group’s album “They Only Come Out at Night,” displaying in songs like “Free Ride” and “Frankenstein” the power chords and guitar theatrics that would become his signature.

He formed Montrose in 1973 with the bassist Bill Church, the drummer Denny Carmassi and an unknown singer credited as Sam Hagar. The band’s first album, called simply “Montrose” and released later that year on Warner Brothers Records, had no hit singles but was a sleeper success, eventually going platinum and becoming a minor landmark of heavy metal.

On the first album’s “Bad Motor Scooter” and “Rock Candy,” Mr. Montrose’s guitar growled, squealed and mimicked an engine revving up, as the full band played a basic, hard-chugging blues-rock. That album and its follow-up, “Paper Money” (1974), were produced with Ted Templeman, who had helped to perfect a clean, commercial hard-rock style with the Doobie Brothers and Little Feat. Mr. Templeman would later record Van Halen, whose guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, acknowledged Mr. Montrose as an influence.

Mr. Hagar left Montrose after “Paper Money,” releasing solo albums and eventually replacing David Lee Roth as Van Halen’s lead singer. The band continued for two more records, “Warner Brothers Presents ... Montrose!” in 1975 and “Jump on It” in 1976. Mr. Montrose later formed the band Gamma, which on three albums from 1979 to 1982 moved toward a softer sound that incorporated synthesizers. (Gamma reunited in 2000 for a fourth album.)

Ronald Douglas Montrose was born in San Francisco on Nov. 29, 1947, and moved with his family to Denver at a young age. He returned to San Francisco in the late 1960s, when his career as a studio musician and sideman took off once he met the producer David Rubinson.

After Montrose broke up in the 1970s Mr. Montrose began releasing a stream of solo albums that veered into jazz-rock. He also put together a new version of Montrose in 1987 for one album, “Mean”; the original lineup of the band played together on Mr. Hagar’s 1997 solo album, “Marching to Mars.” He continued to tour even after learning he had cancer several years ago, Mr. Douglas, his agent, said.

Mr. Montrose is survived by his wife, Leighsa; two brothers, Rick and Mike; a son, Jessie; a daughter, Kira Ratliff; and five grandchildren.

Last edited by slucero on Sat Mar 10, 2012 11:41 am, edited 4 times in total.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

No Surprize wrote:Montrose, rock staples? Sorry, not in my collection. Sam, pro rocker? LOL. If you think fluff like "Three lock box" and "Dreams" are rockers well so is REO. And yes, no doubt, without EVH is career would have been just like Money's, who also had several cd's out, Squiers, and Huey Lewis. Halen put is ass in the spotlight. His 80's style would have went out the door with the others. I am proud to say I have never owned a Fagar cd other than when 5150 came out. That cd hit the can after one listen. I didn't miss the part about Spammy saying this, spammy saying that. Spammy likes to run his mouth. He has pouted, talked trash about Halen, about Dave, then tries to do a 360. I've NEVER read nor heard Halen saying Montrose was a direct influence on him. I have read where he said Tommy Iommi and Ray Davies were but never Montrose. That's Fagar again, putting words into someone else's mouth. Now though, all is right with the world. Dave is back as the frontman, backed by the Halens and I hope I never have to hear about the fill in again. And by the way, my bad about the fuck you man. It wasn't said to offend you.

Exactly: not in your collection. Just everyone else's!!!

A primo forest-trees example. If you didn't like it, it couldn't possibly have been, blah blah.

Sammy's style wasn't an "80s" sound, it was a '70s sound. 3LB was his penultimate (meaning next-to-last) solo release (VOA was the last) before Sam joined VH. It seems you're unaware of how much output Sammy has/had post-Montrose/pre-VH:

slucero wrote:It's pretty well known that EVH was a fan of Montrose... they covered Montrose stuff in their early days, and eventually toured as a support opener for Montrose... search "Montrose" on any VH board amd you'll find mention of it..

And amongst musicians the 1st Montrose album is considered a classic, and in the industy "Montrose" is considered a aonic precursor to the 1st VH album.

All this time and this album is the best that VH could come up with??? Seriously?! I listen to the album and it's Meh.... nothing impresses me from it. If I waited 20 years for that I'd be pretty disappointed. Luckily I've long since moved on. Classic VH is Classic VH....nothing will ever change or devalue that. But let's be real people... Dave can't sing anymore, Eddie is all over the place with his playing and still the old time fanboys love it.

I agree. This album is not perfect, but it is freaking AMAZING for a band with this much age to it come out with a kick-ass album like this!!! I skip 4 songs on the album, but the rest are just as good as most of my favorite classics. "She's The Woman", "Blood And Fire", "Tattoo", "Big River"... who COULDN'T love these songs if you're a true VH fan? And to say anything negative about EVH's playing on this album is crazy. He shines like a diamond throughout, and I LOVE his playing here.

I guess we all have different tastes, but I just don't get it. It's amazing to these ears.